Vanna Howard
Vanna Howard (Democratic Party) is a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, representing the 17th Middlesex District. She assumed office on January 6, 2021. Her current term ends on January 6, 2027.
Howard (Democratic Party) ran in a special election to the Massachusetts State Senate to represent the 1st Middlesex District. She won in the special general election on March 3, 2026.
Biography
Vanna Howard's career experience includes working as the chief of external and government relations with the Lowell Community Health Center, the Greater Lowell regional director with former U.S. Congresswoman Niki Tsongas, and with the Middlesex and Suffolk County District Attorney's Offices. Howard is a member of the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Lowell, the Lowell Housing Authority, and the Cambodian Mutual Assistance Association.[1]
Committee assignments
2025-2026
Howard was assigned to the following committees:
- House Ways and Means Committee
- Community Development and Small Businesses Joint Committee
- Higher Education Joint Committee
- Joint Committee on Racial Equity, Civil Rights, and Inclusion
- Ways and Means Joint Committee
2023-2024
Howard was assigned to the following committees:
- House Ways and Means Committee
- Cannabis Policy Joint Committee
- Education Joint Committee
- Public Health Joint Committee
- Joint Committee on Racial Equity, Civil Rights, and Inclusion
- Ways and Means Joint Committee
2021-2022
Howard was assigned to the following committees:
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2026
See also: Massachusetts state legislative special elections, 2026
General election
Special general election for Massachusetts State Senate 1st Middlesex District
Vanna Howard (D) defeated Sam Meas (R) and Joseph Espinola III (Unenrolled) in the special general election for Massachusetts State Senate 1st Middlesex District on March 3, 2026.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Vanna Howard (D) | 58.1 | 4,280 |
 | Sam Meas (R) | 23.0 | 1,693 | |
 | Joseph Espinola III (Unenrolled) | 18.6 | 1,370 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.2% | 18 | ||
| Total votes: 7,361 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary
Special Democratic primary for Massachusetts State Senate 1st Middlesex District
Vanna Howard (D) defeated Rodney Elliott (D) in the special Democratic primary for Massachusetts State Senate 1st Middlesex District on February 3, 2026.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Vanna Howard | 58.4 | 3,326 |
 | Rodney Elliott | 41.6 | 2,369 | |
| Total votes: 5,695 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary
Special Republican primary for Massachusetts State Senate 1st Middlesex District
Sam Meas (R) advanced from the special Republican primary for Massachusetts State Senate 1st Middlesex District on February 3, 2026.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Sam Meas (Write-in) | 59.4 | 372 |
| Other/Write-in votes | 40.6% | 254 | ||
| Total votes: 626 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Howard in this election.
2024
See also: Massachusetts House of Representatives elections, 2024
General election
General election for Massachusetts House of Representatives 17th Middlesex District
Incumbent Vanna Howard defeated Joseph Onoroski in the general election for Massachusetts House of Representatives 17th Middlesex District on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Vanna Howard (D) | 76.6 | 9,855 |
| Joseph Onoroski (Pirate) | 21.8 | 2,802 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 1.6 | 202 | ||
| Total votes: 12,859 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Massachusetts House of Representatives 17th Middlesex District
Incumbent Vanna Howard advanced from the Democratic primary for Massachusetts House of Representatives 17th Middlesex District on September 3, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Vanna Howard | 98.2 | 2,604 |
| Other/Write-in votes | 1.8 | 47 | ||
| Total votes: 2,651 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Howard in this election.
2022
See also: Massachusetts House of Representatives elections, 2022
General election
General election for Massachusetts House of Representatives 17th Middlesex District
Incumbent Vanna Howard won election in the general election for Massachusetts House of Representatives 17th Middlesex District on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Vanna Howard (D) | 96.4 | 7,168 |
| Other/Write-in votes | 3.6 | 266 | ||
| Total votes: 7,434 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Massachusetts House of Representatives 17th Middlesex District
Incumbent Vanna Howard advanced from the Democratic primary for Massachusetts House of Representatives 17th Middlesex District on September 6, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Vanna Howard | 100.0 | 2,548 |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.0 | 1 | ||
| Total votes: 2,549 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
2020
See also: Massachusetts House of Representatives elections, 2020
General election
General election for Massachusetts House of Representatives 17th Middlesex District
Vanna Howard won election in the general election for Massachusetts House of Representatives 17th Middlesex District on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Vanna Howard (D) | 99.2 | 12,481 |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.8 | 95 | ||
| Total votes: 12,576 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Massachusetts House of Representatives 17th Middlesex District
Vanna Howard defeated incumbent David Nangle and Lisa Arnold in the Democratic primary for Massachusetts House of Representatives 17th Middlesex District on September 1, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Vanna Howard | 43.8 | 2,724 |
 | David Nangle | 31.9 | 1,986 | |
 | Lisa Arnold | 24.1 | 1,495 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.2 | 11 | ||
| Total votes: 6,216 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Watch the Candidate Conversation for this race!
Campaign themes
2026
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Vanna Howard did not complete Ballotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey.
2024
Vanna Howard did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.
2022
Vanna Howard did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
2020
Vanna Howard did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
Below you can find the scorecards found for the Massachusetts General Court in 2025.
- Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance — Legislators are scored on bills of interest to an organization that pledges "to make government more transparent, make fiscally responsible choices, and to hold the line on taxes."
- Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals — Legislators are scored on their sponsorship of legislation related to animal issues.
- The Freedom Index — Legislators are scored on their adherence to the limited government principles of the U.S. Constitution.
Below you can find the scorecards found for the Massachusetts General Court in 2024.
- Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance — Legislators are scored on bills of interest to an organization that pledges "to make government more transparent, make fiscally responsible choices, and to hold the line on taxes."
- Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals — Legislators are scored on their sponsorship of legislation related to animal issues.
- National Federation of Independent Business — Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.
- Progressive Massachusetts — Legislators are scored by the organization on votes that "can show the distinction between a progressive legislator, and everyone else."
Below you can find the scorecards found for the Massachusetts General Court in 2023.
- Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance — Legislators are scored on bills related to transparency, fiscal responsibility, and holding the line on taxes.
- Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals — Legislators are scored on their sponsorship of legislation related to animal issues.
- The American Conservative Union — Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.
Below you can find the scorecards found for the Massachusetts General Court in 2022.
- Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance — Legislators are scored on transparency and tax-related issues.
- Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals — Legislators are scored on their sponsorship of legislation related to animal issues.
- National Federation of Independent Business — Legislators are scored on bills related to business issues.
- Progressive Massachusetts — Legislators are scored on votes that differentiate progressive lawmakers.
Below you can find the scorecards found for the Massachusetts General Court in 2021.
- Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance — Legislators are scored on transparency and tax-related issues.
- Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals — Legislators are scored on their sponsorship of legislation related to animal issues.
- Progressive Massachusetts — Legislators are scored on votes that identify progressive legislators.
- The American Conservative Union — Legislators are scored on conservative issues.
See also
2026 Elections
External links
|
Officeholder Massachusetts House of Representatives 17th Middlesex District |
Personal |
Footnotes
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Edward Kennedy (D) |
Massachusetts State Senate 1st Middlesex District 2026 |
Succeeded by - |
| Preceded by David Nangle (D) |
Massachusetts House of Representatives 17th Middlesex District 2021-Present |
Succeeded by - |
